By fishing guide John Berry
(870) 435-2169
www.berrybrothersguides.comThe project is to take about two months to complete. That schedule allows for the project to be completed before the start of the annual brown trout spawn.
The construction is to be done at low water. The large rocks, root wads and logs will be moved with front end loaders and other heavy equipment. They will not use a barge like when they did the habitat project near Jenkin’s Creek just above the Rim Shoals Catch and Release area. The construction is to be conducted from 6:00 AM to 12:00 AM or 2:00 PM six days a week.
I know what you are thinking, low water, I can go fishing! Yes, there will be reliable wadable water on the White River for a two month period. You don’t know how much I am looking forward to this. Two high water years in a row is almost too much to bear. Fishing in the Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals dam may be a bit dicey. I don’t know whether they will begin at the bottom of the work area or the top. They will be hauling in a lot of material and it will definitely spook the fish. I will concentrate on fishing down stream from the work area. This is the good news.
The bad news is there is concern that this habitat work will injure the Catch and Release section. This is the most productive fishing area in Arkansas. There are more large fish here than any other section of the river. In addition, this is where the big brown trout spawn. Will this work mess it all up? I am a little troubled by having heavy equipment roll around on the bottom of this very fertile section of the river. Will it mess up the aquatic weeds, which are habitat for the insects? Will the work drive the big fish out of the Catch and Release section where they can be caught and removed from the river? I don’t know the answer to these questions although the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission representative at the meeting assured us that all care would be taken to prevent any damage to the area.
At the meeting, local guide, Jimmy Traylor (Jimmy T), brought up what I consider to be the main problem, navigation of the river through the added habitat. This section is currently pretty much free of navigation hazards and is a relatively easy place to boat or fish at any water level except when there is no generation. Many inexperienced anglers rent boats at the adjacent state park boat dock and fish here with out any trouble. Now we are going to put in something like eighty rock and log structures in a fairly small area of the river. All of the structures will be between the boat ramps and the dam. There are to be no structures added below the boat ramps. Going trough this area at certain flows will be like tap dancing through a mine field.
I have a certain amount of experience in the hazards of navigating through river habitat. Several years ago, when the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission added trout habitat to the river near my home town of Cotter, I took out the lower unit of my motor, when I hit a structure that I had not seen before. By the way, that was a $1,400.00 repair job. I expect the same thing will happen when this habitat project is completed (hopefully not to me again).
At this time, we do not the exact location, the exact number of structures that will be added, and the exact height of these structures. We also do not know how these structures will appear or disappear at various levels of generation. I would be very concerned at lower levels when the structures were just peeking out or barely submerged. They could easily destroy a boat, finish off a motor and send a boat full of anglers swimming. This is one of the most heavily fished sections of the White River and now could be one of the most treacherous to navigate based on the water level. This could all be complicated by the frequent heavy fogs we get on the White River. Sometimes, I cannot see ten feet in front of my boat.
The thing that really makes this situation dangerous is the proximity of this section to the dam. All of the anglers that regularly fish there know that the Corps of Engineers are constantly varying the discharge rates at the dam. Downstream these variations are not as noticeable but this close to the dam they are quick and apparent. What is a good safe level of water could be several feet lower in a matter of minutes.
We are going to have to learn how to navigate this section of the river all over again and at certain levels it will be very difficult if not impossible to motor through. Please be aware and careful as we rediscover this very special section of water.
